Many of you are already familiar with the premium section of our Wood Whisperer site, The Wood Whisperer Guild. I try not to push the Guild too hard here on the free site since I realize that a paid membership immediately rules some folks out. But for those of you on the fence, I want to show you exactly what can be accomplished with the help of the Guild, even for a new woodworker. Marilyn Guthrie, a new woodworker from Seattle, took on a behemoth of a project: the Chest of Drawers. And frankly, she knocked it out of the park! It wasn’t all smooth sailing, but she took full advantage of our services to work through the problems and come out with a beautiful new dresser.
This summer, we finally finished our remodel and our attached garage. I had a shiny new space and a shiny new table saw to set up shop. Now, I just needed a project and some help figuring out how to do it. That?s when I found the Wood Whisperer Guild. Perfect!
So the project for the summer was to be a Chest of Drawers. Gulp! That?s a big project. I made a small cabinet and a tool box in a wood working class, but this was a lot more complicated. I looked over some of the videos on the Shaker Table (the previous build) and decided it looked like there was enough instruction that I could figure out how to do it, so I signed up.
Not surprisingly, as I worked along I started to encounter a few ?issues?. When I cut the mortises in my legs, they were a little bit off. Uh oh, how do I fix that? With Marc?s help, I was able to pair up the legs and make adjustments. 
I continued to use the pairing suggestion even when the sides were completed and I had to cut my side guides. I was able to adjust the dado in the guides by a 32nd here and a 16th there. When it came time to install the web frames, my drawer openings were within a 16th end to end and square enough to make for smooth running drawers. Whew!
Then, oh phooey, my back dados weren?t lining up with the web frames. How am I going to make that work? One of the more important things that Marc helped me with was what to worry about and what NOT to worry about. Turned out this was a problem I could fix with some spacers. Easy pea-zzy! No worries.
Next, after running my pieces through the joiner to be glued up for drawer fronts, I couldn?t get a flat edge. My technique must be messed up, right? Nope, after some consultation, I was able to figure out that my joiner needed some fine tuning. I went to the Video Tool Set Up section on the TWW site, watched the Jointer Setup video and viola! Straight edges!
My last ?issue? came when I was finishing up the drawers. Instead of putting the dado for the drawer bottom panel at ½? so that the center drawer guide would fit underneath, I put all of them at ¼? deep. Big bummer! What to do? So after some back and forth, we decided to abandon the center guide and go with the more conventional drawer installation approach. I fit some small pieces in at the sides and one in the middle between the small drawers. I made them really tight and then hand planed the contact points to fit snuggly. Then I added some wax and had a pretty nice-fitting set of drawers.
Then, using some local expertise at Daly?s Paint, I finished with their water based Early American stain and Crystalfin. Now I?m starting work on two end tables that will use a lot of the same techniques (story stick, tenon and mortises, etc.) And guess what, I already know how to do almost all of it. Then it?s on to the Wall Cabinet guild build. I can?t wait!
Marilyn – this looks fantastic! Your hard work really paid off. You’re an inspiration!
Hey Marilyn, Wow you really rocked the CoD! It was really cool to see this project come together. You really inspired me to go big with my own work. I can?t wait to see your end tables come together. Fred G (Marilyn?s Neighbor)
Howdy neighbor across the street! Good to see you on the wood whisper site!! Here’s hopin’ you find good stuff here.
M :)
PS. come over any time to see the progress and so I can get an update on you thanksgiving table! (no pressure .. at least from me .. tee hee!)
Dan/Tom,
Yeah, what great comments. I’m still laughing at the “good thing you’re slow” comment.
And, yes, Marc is a treasure! :) I’ve also heard he’s Ginger Rogers – dancing backwards in high heels .. tee hee!
Marilyn, that is a great project. I hope you’ll share a photo of the dresser once the pulls are installed. I’ve been doing this for four years and I am still very slow. Seems I’m always adding new techniques or combinations. When I totally screw up and have to re-make something (like today, I had to make 8 new thin legs with mortises, no saving originals) I do go much quicker. Most everything in my life though is a prototype, so slow is good. Gives me more time to ponder design modifications or possibilities as I go. As my wife says, “good thing you work slow, because that wood sure is expensive.” Indeed.
Isn’t Marc a treasure?! Seems every project I rely on him for some aspect, as well as a word of encouragement, as I go along this merry journey. Hope you continue to enjoy your work/play.
You hear that Nicole? A treasure! I’m a treasure!!! :)
Marc, not sure being a “treasure” is a good thing….your step dad tells everyone I too am a “treasure”… but then follows with I should be buried … LOL He’s so lucky I have a sense of humor!
Great looking project. I was once told by an experienced cabinet maker that the true skill of a woodworker is not in never making mistakes, but the ability to hide or correct them so nobody notices.
Ben,
Thanks so much. My friend are picking the metal hard ware for the piece, they also picked the color.
Saturdays and my every other Friday off are the only days I really get to work on projects. I got my Bell Forest Kit at the end of June and worked on it most Saturdays and some Fridays until it was finished at the end of October. I did take a few extra days off to work on it but missed a few summer Saturdays (we had a rainy summer otherwise, I would have missed more).
I think I’m pretty slow and since I hadn’t really done a project like this before I was even more pokey. But I really enjoy working on projects and when its done, the fun’s over. :)
Looks great! Seems like the only mistakes won’t be seen, which is the same as if they didn’t exist! Are you going with wooden drawer pulls? How long did this take you from start to finish, and how much did you work on it each week?
Bryan – thanks so much. And you right, fixing the inevitable mistake is a worthy skill to learn.
Mike – Being able to watch the video and then have some one to work solutions with who just finished do in the same project really helps. I sent the pictures in the post to help explain where I was having problems. it was really effective.
Vic – Opps! Sorry, no excuses. You’re right, I should have dropped a note. :)
Marilyn!! You didn’t tell me you were finished! We in the NW gotta stick together!! Great job and very nice thing for you to do for your friends!!!
Nice work! I am hoping after completing some shop upgrades to sign-up for the guild. Having the chance for some one on one help, even over email, would be awesome!
Marilyn – the chest of drawers looks fantastic. Its amazing how much better you can get by making mistakes and learning how to fix them…trust me I make plenty. Fantastic job!
Good for you–jumping in with both feet and tackling a challenging project. It can be a headache, and discouraging at times, but you pulled it off, learned a bunch of stuff, and became a stronger woodworker in the process. Sounds like you have the energy and enthusiasm to create some fine pieces. The good news is, as you learned enough to avoid the common errors, things go so much faster and easier.
DD
A chest of drawers are tough, even for a master craftsman. Good job Marilyn. Are you going to build a bedroom suite to match?
Not a bedroom suite (wow!). The CoD actually went to some good friends who are adopting a child and need to furnish the child’s room. (Whew, dodged that bullet :) ).
I’m making end tables and a wall cabinet for the new addition space. And I’m looking forward to Dan’s predictions of things going faster and easier!
Thanks so much for all the compliments, you guys are making me get all red in the face.
Oh, and Ben, I hope I hope your erasing your web sites visited. ;)
Great job Marilyn. I’ve been thinking about signing up for the guild and tackling this project but was afraid it was over my head. You have given me the courage!
That is one fantastic dresser. Well done! I wasn’t able to participate, but I will be using the videos to the max when the time comes to do our bedroom set!
Top notch once again Marilyn!
I should add… if my wife see’s Marilyn’s chest I am screwed. That is exactly what she has been bugging me for.
Beautiful work!!
Hmmm… so with membership in the guild we get extra access and help solving problems with non-guild projects?
See this I didn’t know. I thought it was just building along with others on dedicated projects (which is great… but I don’t need a shaker table).
I would consider myself broke/on the edge and this will knock me off the edge when the funds become available.
Yup! 6th down the list of our membership features is “Individual assistance with all of your projects (not just Guild builds)!”. For the record though, this chest of drawers actually is a Guild Build.